The National Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism calls for the removal of antisemitic content on social media platforms. The numbers are shocking and the number of incidents continues to rise. Social media companies must take action now.”
A report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) from 2024 shows that as many as 90% of Jews encountered antisemitic content online in the previous year. Additionally, 55% of them came into contact with incitement to violence online. Therefore, the antisemitism fighters address their open letter to the companies behind the world’s largest social media companies: Meta (Instagram, Facebook, and Threads), ByteDance (TikTok), YouTube LLC (YouTube), and X Corp. (X).
These companies must realize that online antisemitism has consequences in the offline world and can lead to discrimination and violence against Jews,” says Eddo Verdoner, National Coordinator for Combating Antisemitism (NCAB) and initiator of the open letter. The numbers are shocking and the number of incidents continues to rise. Social media companies must take action now.”
Increasingly extreme antisemitic content
In the open letter, the national coordinators and special envoys identify various risks, such as the functioning of algorithms that place increasingly extreme antisemitic content on users timelines. The dangers of AI systems that rely on existing antisemitic prejudices and thus reinforce them, the so-called confirmation bias, are also addressed. They therefore call for, among other things, the appointment of sufficient experts who can assess antisemitic content, stricter content moderation on social media, and more transparency about the extent to which antisemitism occurs on the platforms. Verdoner calls for decisive action: Social media companies still have significant steps to take. We strongly urge them to ensure that there is no place for antisemitism on their platforms.”
The full text of the letter (Dutch) and the names of the senders can be found here:
We are Special Envoys, Coordinators, and Commissioners responsible for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism. Appointed by governments and international organisations, we dedicate our efforts to counter antisemitism in our own countries, regions, and around the world. We write to you out of grave concern about the spread of antisemitism on your platforms.
Antisemitism is on the rise, both in the online and offline world. It is crucial that online platforms take their responsibility in ensuring a safe online space. Antisemitism online has real world consequences and can lead to radicalisation and violence. According to a survey published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in 2024, 55% of Jews had encountered online incitement of violence against Jews in the previous year. These shocking numbers prove that it is of the utmost importance that online platforms take immediate action to combat online antisemitism.
We would like to highlight a few areas of particular concern. Firstly, we are worried about algorithms that allow for the continuous affirmation of posts containing harmful content such as Holocaust denial and violence against Jews. In particular, we believe online platforms should be extremely alert about the potential negative consequences of AI due to its tendency to absorb and amplify biases. Secondly, we alert you to the fact that antisemitism can be hard to identify due to its many forms. Therefore, it is important that online platforms have the appropriate expertise to identify antisemitism, and stay informed on evolving trends. Lastly, we are deeply concerned that hate speech, such as antisemitism, is not sufficiently moderated due to overreliance on AI, community notes, and decreased measures.
The European Union (EU) has made great strides with the regulation of online hate speech through the Digital Services Act (DSA), and the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online. We urge for the immediate and full implementation of the DSA and the Code of Conduct within the EU and for the implementation of the same action and values outside of it, since antisemitism knows no borders.
Therefore, we urge you to ensure that antisemitism has no place on your platforms by finding solutions and taking concrete measures, including:
- Make sure content moderation is effective, in line with the laws in the territories of the respective signatories such as the DSA. Moderation must always be supported by human reviewAdhere to legally mandated compliance standards related to hate speech and relevant laws in the countries and regions in which you operate.
- Use effective measures to promptly remove harmful content that promotes hate and violence against Jews and others.
- Increase the transparency of underlying algorithms, moderation decisions, and the prevalence of antisemitism on online platforms. For example, by following the revised EU Code of Conduct’s recommendation of publishing country-level data broken down by the internal classification of hate speech.
- Use AI and algorithms carefully to ensure they do not perpetuate antisemitic and Holocaust distorting and denying content.
- Make sure that there is enough expertise and capacity to classify antisemitic content and determine the appropriate actions.
Through our combined strengths we can tackle online antisemitism. In the context of this letter, we would like to initiate a conversation, and will be in touch to set a date for this purpose. Thank you for taking note of our concerns and we look forward to your response.
Representatives of regional organizations (in alphabetical order of organizations)
Andrew Baker, Personal Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism
Fernando Lottenberg, Organization of American States Commissioner (OAS) to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism
National representatives (in alphabetical order of countries)
Jillian Segal AO, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism
Antonio Martino, Director Department IV/12 Fostering Austrian-Jewish Cultural Heritage and Combating Antisemitism
Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Deputy State Secretary for Social and Civil Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Hungary
Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Israel
Arvydas Daunoravičius, Ambassador-at-Large, Lithuania
Michel Heintz, Interministerial delegate for policies against antisemitism, racism and lgtbiq+ hatred, Luxembourg
Eddo Verdoner, National Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism for the Government of the Netherlands
Bogdan Mazuru, Special Representative of the Government of Romania for the remembrance policies and for the fight against antisemitism and xenophobia
Dragoș Hotea, Coordinator of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for monitoring the implementation of the 2024-2027 National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia, Radicalization and Hate Speech, Romania
Lord John Mann, Independent Advisor to the United Kingdom Government on Antisemitism